All kids tell lies. They tell you they ate those $6 organic strawberries you put in their lunch, when they really tossed them in the trash. They tell you they didn’t break your grandmother’s china tea pot, when you saw them drop it.

Telling lies is normal and natural and part of growing up.

Children tell their first lie as early as 2 years old. By age 4 most kids are telling fibs, and typically the behavior escalates until age 12, which is the most deceitful age.

But some kids lie more than others, and some are better liars. And a really good compulsive liar is bound to trouble any parent.

Researchers are saying not to worry. They’re finding that the complex brain process a child’s mind undergoes to tell a tall tale is a sign of smarts.

Researchers have…examined why some kids lie more than others, and have found that it isn’t related to better moral values or religious upbringing. Rather, it’s kids with better cognitive abilities who lie more. That’s because to lie you also have to keep the truth in mind, which involves multiple brain processes, such as integrating several sources of information and manipulating that information, according to Shawn Christ, a neuropsychologist at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

The ability to lie–and lie successfully–is thought to be related to development of brain regions that allow so–called “executive functioning,” or higher order thinking and reasoning abilities. Kids who perform better on tests that involve executive functioning also lie more.

A researcher at Toronto University is saying that this cognitive ability translates into success later in life.

“Parents should not be alarmed if their child tells a fib,” Kang Lee, director of the Institute of Child Study at Toronto University, told the London Times. “Almost all children lie. Those who have better cognitive development lie better because they can cover up their tracks. They may make bankers in later life!”

Even if the ability to lie is a sign of intelligence experts are advising parents to discourage rather than encourage lying. But don’t threaten them with punishment or scream at them, advises Po Bronson, author of the New York Times best-seller Nurture Shock. Instead, parents should pause children in the moment before they suspect a lie may be coming and say, “You make me really happy if you tell me the truth,” Bronson recommended in an interview with NPR.